Puerto Vallarta Open | 6 - 11 May 2014

Press release

Brazil's three teams for the men's qualification tournament on Tuesday at the FIVB Puerto Vallarta Open get a late afternoon workout on court 2 of the purpose built complex on Playa Camarones adjacent to the Sheraton Buganvilias Resort.

Lausanne, Switzerland, May 5, 2014 — As final preparations are completed on the purpose built complex on the picturesque Playa Camarones, 23 men’s teams from 13 countries have converged for Tuesday’s men’s qualification tournament to start play in the double-gender US$150,000 FIVB Puerto Vallarta Open, the third event on the 2014 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour calendar.

The Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) international tour is back in Mexico for the first time since 2006 for its first event in Puerto Vallarta to be held on Playa Camarones adjacent to the Sheraton Buganvilias Resort and Convention Center. The FIVB World Tour has had eight previous tour stops in Mexico. Acapulco hosted double-gender events in 1999, 2005 and 2006 and Rosarito hosted one double-gender tour stop in 2000.

South American powerhouse Brazil has three teams seeded among the top six in the men’s qualifier and Canada and host country Mexico also have three teams each vying for the final eight spots in the 32-team main draw which starts for men on Wednesday. The top seeded qualification team is Brazil’s Gustavo Carvalhaes/Allison Cittadin while the other two Brazilian duos are No. 5 Hevaldo Morreira/Bruno De Paula and No. 6 Thiago Santos/Marcio Araujo.

The FIVB Puerto Vallarta Open is the 300th FIVB men’s event since the FIVB began play in 1987 and the 263rd FIVB women’s tournament since each started play in 1992.

The second of 11 FIVB Open events in 2014, the FIVB Puerto Vallarta Open has men’s action running from Tuesday through Saturday and women’s competition running from Wednesday through Sunday. The tournament format has a one-day qualification tournament in to determine the final eight spots in each gender’s 32-team main draw tournaments followed by round-robin pool play and a single-elimination bracket for the final 24 teams. The men’s semifinals and medal matches will be held Saturday while the women’s semis and medal matches will be played on Sunday at the purpose-built stadium at Puerto Vallarta’s Playa Camarones.

TEAM MEXICOAs the host nation, Mexico receives three teams in each gender pre-seeded into the main draw. Mexico’s three teams in the men’s qualification tournament are, Julio Manrique/Mario Barragan, Jesus Vallejo/Gerardo Arriola and Emilio Betancourt/Gonzalo Cancino.

FIVB GOLDVisiting Puerto Vallarta for the first time, the FIVB Puerto Vallarta Open will be the ninth and 10th all-time FIVB World Tour men’s and women’s FIVB World Tour women’s tournament in Mexico. All double-gender events, the FIVB World Tour visited Acapulco in 1999, Rosarito Beach in 2000 and Acapulco again in both 2005 and 2006.

Mexico is also hosting the Inaugural FIVB Beach Volleyball U17 World Championships this year in Acapulco (July 15-20).

The gold medal teams in each gender in the FIVB Puerto Vallarta Open will each split $11,000, the silver $8,000, the bronze $6,000 and fourth place $4,500. The men medal matches will be held on Saturday and the women’s medal matches will be held on Sunday.

NET TIMEBased in Lausanne, Switzerland as the international governing body for the Olympic sports of Beach Volleyball and Volleyball, the 2014 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour calendar features a record purse of US$10.2 million with a season that extends from late April to mid-December competing at 21 venues in 18 countries. This year’s FIVB World Tour includes a record 10 FIVB Grand Slam events, the inaugural Grand Slam Final and 11 FIVB Open Tournaments throughout the world, helping expand the door for development of the sport even further.

The 11 FIVB Open tournaments in 2014, seven double-gender, two men only and two women only, have $150,000 total purses for the double gender events and $75,000 for the single-gender competitions.

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